Oh Crap!

Oh crap, why isn't the old playbook working?! Duke Wuyou had already begun to break into a quiet sweat. The Abyss Seed born from the shadow of the Tower was inherently best suited for control and suppression. By his initial calculations, though the Flame Tide Calamity was raging with ferocity, it lacked agility and cunning—possessing form without spirit, it was merely an empty husk. Nothing more than a walking corpse. It was just a mindless calamity. In the past, when he manipulated such forces with his Law of Shadow, while he couldn't wield them as smoothly as his own limbs, he could at least force his will upon them—shoving the mule's head into the trough whether it wanted to drink or not, bending it entirely to his whims. Yet right now, the Flame Tide Calamity seemed to have gone stark raving mad, struggling and resisting with rabid fury, as though a comatose vegetable had abruptly leaped out of bed and started chugging pesticide. It was actively seeking death in every possible way! No one could stop it even if they tried. Suspended in the deep sea, the tally-shaped Abyss Seed cast endless shadows. A deluge of shadow chains spread out to blot out the deep, plunging into the dancing flame tide—yet no matter how Duke Wuyou attempted to catalyze it, there was zero response. In fact, even that faint resonance and connection was severing at breakneck speed. Meanwhile, within the Border Realm of the Flame Tide Calamity, Ji Jue—who had gone on an absolute slaughtering rampage—had just eradicated countless mud giants. He was just thinking how there was nothing thrilling left to cut down when he looked up and saw pillar-like shadow cables descending from the sky, as if bridging heaven and earth in majestic grandeur. Swelling near the bursting point from the frenzied influx of the calamity's essence, Ji Jue could hardly contain himself. Why would he care about what they were? Cut them down first, ask questions later! A crimson tornado tore out of the ground once more, sweeping back and forth. Amid earth-shattering roars, chain after chain snapped and dissipated in rapid succession. Yet Ji Jue still felt unsatisfied. Amid the swirling currents of inexplicable emotions—fury, ferocity, searing torment—the accumulated power suddenly hit an absolute threshold and detonated outward. A crisp cracking sound rang out, breaking free of the Lock. When his senses returned, he found that the spirit of Chunjun had also spread its hands, overlapping perfectly with his own. In an instant, the rolling flame tide converged and condensed, latching onto Chunjun's blade to undergo another qualitative transformation. As spiritus erupted, Ji Jue roared and slashed. And so, between the scorched earth and dark clouds, within the burning world, a gentle ring abruptly rose. Amid the dense smoke and raging fires of heaven and earth, a thin horizontal line sliced cleanly across everything, splitting the world right down the middle into two perfect halves. Immediately after, from that scarlet line, a waterfall of viscous, blood-like flames erupted forth! In that single instant, over a thousand chains were severed and reduced to ash! Outside the flame tide, the shadow of the Tower crumbled to pieces! In the dead silence, a bead of cold sweat finally rolled down Duke Wuyou's forehead, leaving him dumbstruck. Is... is this right? Yes, yes, yes... No, no, no! Between shock and bewilderment, sheer fury flared within Duke Wuyou! He wanted nothing more than to spit a torrent of curses. That dog, the Sower!!! What kind of garbage had that creature dumped on him?! The embers of the Flame Tide Calamity were defective goods; after he had poured all his efforts into reigniting them, they immediately went out of control, and even the intelligence he'd been given turned out to be completely false! The Flame Tide Calamity was useless, and the Darkfall Calamity in Quancheng had fallen dead silent too. His trusted confidant Langhu had returned empty-handed, having lost an arm to boot! Not just that. That idiot General Pacquiao, whom he had assumed could serve as a useful pawn, turned out to be a brainless pig who walked right into a trap and was done in by an artisan—an absolute moron! And because of that fool, the arrangements he had cultivated for years on the Sea of Hesitation had all gone completely down the drain. Engulfed in wave after wave of rage, Duke Wuyou could no longer maintain his usual haughty poise and dignity. With his composure utterly shattered, he decided to throw caution to the wind! "In that case—there's no need for pity!" Though it was a calamity crystal exceedingly rare even beneath the Vortex, the fire of the Abyssal Depths reputed to be capable of burning the mortal realm, it hadn't even nurtured a spirit. It was nothing more than a failure. Now that it had lost all value as a weapon and a tool—then let it be a consumable and expend its final lingering heat! Crimson surfaced within Duke Wuyou's double pupils as he gazed down impassively at the runaway flame tide. "Since you reignited from embers, then return to ash!" The tally-shaped Abyss Seed shuddered violently and expanded, turning into a pitch-black blazing sun. Boundless sludgy spiritus surged from within, cascading down like a waterfall into the shrinking flame tide. Without the slightest hesitation over his precious reserves, he force-fed them like a gavage duck into the swirling inferno—forcible catalysis! Immediately, the wilting, collapsing flames swelled abruptly. Like a balloon being inflated, it ballooned outward, expanding, expanding, and expanding further. The searing heat vaporized seawater until the rain-lashed surface boiled. Beneath billowing, scorching white steam, startling streaks of burning red surfaced across the pitch-black sea. Under the eruption of the Flame Tide Calamity, even the bizarre giant ship suspended in the deep ocean retreated again and again. Feeling the violent spiritus fluctuations surging within, everyone shuddered instinctively. If it detonated completely, its destructive might would rival that of a fusion bomb! Crack! The instant the flame tide swelled to its absolute limit, terrifying shockwaves and heat erupted in a blinding flash! The world fell into darkness. A crimson sun rose in the deep ocean, hurling out tens of thousands of solar prominence-like flares in all directions, swallowing everything in their wake. Layer upon layer of protective barriers aboard the giant ship shattered, sending the vessel careening backward through the expanding shockwaves like a withered leaf. Spumes of fire soared skyward like titanic pillars between sea and sky. Crimson shockwaves raged and echoed endlessly throughout the abyss. Until, amidst the earth-shattering chaos, a hallucinatory tearing sound rang in everyone's ears. Rocked by the involuntary tremors, countless figures broke into ecstatic smiles. It worked! Duke Wuyou's vision went black. Feeling the backlash tearing through his Abyss Seed, he coughed up a mouthful of blood, panting heavily. But once he regained his wits, he couldn't stop his mouth from splitting into a grin. "It worked! It worked!" "Hahaha, it's finally done!" In the turbulent, darkened deep ocean, lingering wisps of flame drifted about, illuminating an eerie rift that had appeared out of thin air. The gates to the Border Realm had finally been forced open. Through the crack, one could faintly discern endless cloud-vapors rising and falling like tides. Dark, mountain-sized temples hung suspended in the sky above, drifting in and out of view, exuding cold solemnity and grotesque majesty. Watching the place that his ancestors had spent over four hundred years searching for—a place they had dreamed of reaching—reappear before his eyes, Duke Wuyou could no longer maintain his composure and burst into wild laughter. Truly, Heaven's Mandate was his! The legitimate succession was his! The grand plan would succeed! That Changle brat was insolent and tyrannical, while that old ghost Anguo was nothing more than a watchdog. With the Imperial Heirloom Seal in his grasp, who else could the revival and rebirth of the Holy Dynasty fall to but his Wuyou lineage?! Alas, the laughter did not last long. Soon, the smile froze on his face. As the tally seed returned, the ember seed of the Flame Tide Calamity also fell back into his hands—yet compared to what it looked like when he first discovered it in the deep ocean, it hardly seemed like the same object! The once vibrant orange-red flame seed was now covered in fractures. Less than a tenth of its essence remained; apart from that final speck of ember flame, it was an entirely empty shell! What was even more catastrophic was his own tally seed—it was mangled beyond recognition! Aside from numerous cracks, a massive chunk was missing, and from the jagged gap, wisps of darkness oozed slowly like blood, looking for all the world as if it had been bitten off by a dog! A huge portion of the Great Sin's divine marrow within it had inexplicably vanished as well... Heart-wrenching agony! Caught between triumph and despair, his face contorted in uncontrollable spasms. Yet in the end, he dared not waste another second. An opportunity of a millennium lay right before his eyes! He glared at the opened rift, unable to wait any longer. Before long, amidst the lingering turbulence of the deep sea, the battered, perforated giant vessel rallied its strength and sailed straight into the fissure, vanishing into the beyond. Soon! Very soon! Starting today, make the Holy Dynasty great again! "...Hm?" Beneath the Aspect of Tianlu, sitting cross-legged with his chin propped on his hand, the artisan wore a faint half-smile. "I see. So that's what was going on." He really was the dear grand-disciple of his lineage—the student truly had surpassed the master! To think that just crafting a Heavenly Work could stir up such immense amusement! Having silently spectated the entire time, Tianlu grinned without making a sound, his face brimming with delight. Who would have thought that this rabble of pathetic imperial remnants could still deliver such a delightful surprise today? Even one of the former fulcrums of the Heavenly Pillar—the sacrificial temple of the Eternal Imperial Dynasty—had been dug up! But who was pulling the strings behind all this? Those few Great Sin fiends lurking in the mortal realm? The Sower, or the Harvester? That brain-dead monk from Wulou Temple? The crazy woman from the Tianxin Society? Even the few wolves left alive from the fallen White Nation had sneaked in... Looking closely, what a star-studded gathering! Truly... Tianlu sighed softly, shaking his head with fond exasperation. His fingers twitched with an unbearable itch as he tapped the cane across his knees, full of eager anticipation. *Look at that, just look at that. Such fun to be had, so why didn't anyone invite me?!* Crack! Inside the workshop, Ji Jue's shell-like body twitched violently. At last, his eyes snapped open. It was like jolting awake from a massive hangover and a deep dream, returning to the mortal world. Drenched in sweat, he gasped raggedly for breath—only to realize that Isis had already hoisted him onto an operating table. He was stuck full of medication needles. A gleaming chainsaw and scalpel were practically hovering over his face! "Tsk, what a shame," Isis sighed regretfully. "It's only been a few minutes... I was getting ready to do some more emergency resuscitation on you." "I think if you hadn't tried to 'resuscitate' me, I'd already be fully recovered by now." Ji Jue's face twitched. Sighing helplessly, he yanked out the IV lines and stretched his limbs, feeling as though everything that had just occurred belonged to a past life. For a moment, he could barely tell where he was. One second he had been forging Chunjun, the next he had plunged into the Flame Tide Calamity and gone on a slaughter spree, and then in the blink of an eye—poof—he was back in the workshop. Right before being pulled back, he vaguely remembered glimpsing a rift tearing open in the deep sea, and the magnificent vistas beyond it... What the hell had just happened?! Once his wits caught up, he slapped his forehead on pure instinct, finally remembering the most important matter of all. Chunjun! Oh crap, where's my Chunjun?!